As some of you may have read my puppy adoption fell thur just about a week ago (well the girl puppy did). It made me so back and rethink EVERYTHING. FYI I did have my vet check my breeders paperwork on her health screenings. He said everything looks good. I guess i should tell ya'll my brother-in-law is my vet so really trust his input.
My breeder is telling me some of the boys from this same litter are still available so I can choose one but I need to make a decision.

So my question for you is...................What are the differences in girls vs boys?????

I am looking:

1 a healthy puppy- my breeder checks out and I trust she has healthy dogs
2 a beautiful breed to standard bleheim dog
3 a loving dog who's up for a little fun too

So give it to me straight what do you think????

Thanks for your input-I will keep you posted.

Melissa

Chuck

15th February 2012, 12:59 PM

"So my question for you is...................What are the differences in girls vs boys?????"

Wow! I thought they would teach that in school!!! LOL

Female cavaliers love you, but male cavaliers are in love with you....My male is much more of a lap dog, and has to sleep tuching to me, Nina wants to sleep on her own pillow next to me

Autaven

15th February 2012, 05:31 PM

I'm more of a girl dog person to be honest though I do think they are slightly more independent. Izzie is my baby and I love her to bits and she does enjoy cuddles but she is happy to lay herself as long as she is comfortable. George on the other hand is a complete weirdo, though of course I love him dearly. He loves cuddles and attention but wants you to stay still so that he can sniff you senseless, he doesn't like lots of contact but wants it at the same time. All of our male dogs in the family have been like this, just little strange guys in my opinion haha :P

In the future I think I'll probably only have bitches!

Karlin

15th February 2012, 06:32 PM

Just to be clear on the health front: what is the breeder showing you? Is your vet familiar with the SM and MVD breeding protocols and what he should be looking for in terms of age of parent dogs and tests and results? In short, both parents need to have been cardiologist heart tested within the year of breeding (not a vet heart test -- this is NOT adequate) and both parents should have been MRId. The cardio results need to be clear and BOTH parents must be at least 2.5 years old UNLESS there are no cardiologist results for all four grandparents that showed they too were clear still at age 5. IF this info isn't available, if heart testing certs are only from a vet, or a dog was not still clear when cardio tested at age 5, then the breeder is NOT properly health testing for hearts or following the breeding protocol. On MRIs -- at least one parent should have a grade A result at age 2.5 and the other should not be lower than a D anhd if a D was used, you need to understand there will be a higher likelihood of SM. Even with two A parents the likelihood is about a fourth will develop SM but this is the best ration breeders can currently aim for. If dogs have not been MRId and the breeder is using the excuse that she doesn't know of any SM in her lines -- then the odds are probably much higher than 50% that a pup will have SM as chances are quite low that one or both would be A dogs.

Assuming ALL of this checks out then you have a breeder doing their best for health. Very few actually do all these tests and those who don't should be avoided not only to keep support from breeders who do not properly health tests but to reduce the chances of ending up with a sick and expensive to diagnose and treat dog.

Very few vets are familiar with these protocols and what they think checks out as 'health testing' is NOT acceptable in this breed (of course there's no reason why they sdhould know but it means you cannot generally rely on a vet's evaluation unless they know all the above and confirm the health certs are *genuine* (we have had instances of forged certs given to people on the board!) and the results conform to the protocols.

There are tons of previous threads on the male v female debate so those might help you make a decision -- just search using some applicable keywords :). The bottom line is (from years of having 5 and doing rescue with a couple of hundred cavaliers) -- it isn't much of a difference in this breed and either will fill any of those things you listed (work with your breeder to get the right personality, don't go on looks (markings change as they mature and dark colours fill in more) or 'the one that comes to me first' (unless in latter case you want a more challenging and active dog). Just go with what you want if it is important to you so you don't end up regretting your choice and make absolutely sure this IS a health testing breeder as general health testing that vets would do is NOT adequate in cavaliers. All else being equal I prefer males for subtle reasons and someday will add another male to my household when I am ready for a new puppy. I actually prefer getting adult dogs however as well -- one pup every decade is more than enough for me!